Chapter Ten
An Unwelcome Feast
The Prefects were released around one o'clock to patrol the train and keep an eye on the new students in particular. Alaw hung back to let Draco pull ahead of her. He hadn't looked at her the entire time they'd been sitting in the Prefect carriage, which she supposed was probably for the best, but was still depressing. They had been good friends just a few months ago, exchanged their favourite books and shared a few laughs. Now, that was all behind them.
"Of course it had to be him," Ron spat, glaring at Draco's retreating back. "So You-Know-Who's already got one Death Eater in training as a Prefect!"
Alaw sighed miserably. She would have loved to defend her friend and say he would never join Voldemort, but it sounded pathetic, even to her. Voldemort had set up his base of operations in Draco's house for god's sake, his father was a Death Eater, his whole family would expect it of him, of course he had joined up. But Alaw refused to believe he was a willing participant.
"Ok, you two go and track down Neville and the others, I've got to go and be a Slytherin for a while."
"Oh Alaw, don't go putting yourself in danger before we even get to Hogwarts," Hermione warned.
"Don't worry," Alaw said, patting her backpack. "They won't even see me."
So once Ron and Hermione had gone on their way, Alaw pulled out the invisibility cloak and threw it around her shoulders. The worst thing about being invisible usually was navigating crowded places, because it was almost impossible not to bump into anyone. This being the wizarding world, most people didn't question the fact that they'd just walked into a solid patch of air that went 'ouch!', but it was still uncomfortable.
But thankfully, apart from the odd stray, the corridors were empty. Alaw peered into the compartments she passed, keeping her eyes peeled for the Slytherins. She found a few in the middle of the train. Flora, Hestia and Pansy were all sitting together eating lunch. Alaw gazed sadly at Flora. She usually steered clear of Pansy and hung out with her boyfriend, Cameron instead, but it looked like things had changed over the summer.
In the next compartment, Daphne, Tracy and Cameron was talking with worried expressions on their faces. Alaw gaped at Cameron, whom she hadn't initially recognised. He was wearing proper wizards robes for a change, his hair had been cut and combed and he wasn't wearing his usual earring and eyeliner. Things really had changed.
After passing a group of gossiping Ravenclaws and Millicent Bulstrode, who for some reason, was sitting alone and crying into a handkerchief, Alaw spotted her quarry. Draco was sliding open the door of the last compartment in the carriage and he disappeared inside. The door was closed by the time Alaw got there but she saw Draco flop down in a spare seat by the door. With him were, Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle.
Alaw rooted around in her pocket and extracted a wriggling Extendable Ear that she'd borrowed from the twins. After settling herself cross-legged on the floor she inserted one end of the string into her ear. The other end came to life and slithered under the door and Alaw could hear the conversation within as though she was sitting in the middle of it.
"So, how was it?" Theodore was asking. "Who're the new heads?"
"Cedric Diggory, and Cho Chang," said Draco. Alaw heard the rustle of pages and assumed that he'd taken out a book.
"Uch, that pretty boy," Crabbe spat. "And that Chang girl is such a slut!"
Outside in the corridor, Alaw rolled her eyes. As far as she was aware, Cho and Cedric had been a perfectly happy, committed couple for the past few months.
"What has she done that's so special?" Theodore asked bitterly.
"Well, she was on the school team last year. That's probably why Weasle King was chosen as Gryffindor Prefect," said Draco boredly. There were sounds of consternation from the other occupants of the compartment.
"Weasley?! You can't be serious," Theodore scoffed. "My god, things have really gone down hill this year. Oh and let me guess, mudblood Granger is his partner right?"
"Right," said Draco.
"Pansy hates her, how did she react to that?" Goyle asked. There was a pause before Draco answered.
"I wouldn't know, Pansy isn't the Slytherin prefect this year."
"Oh no it's not that blood traitor Greengrass is it?" asked Theodore.
"No. It's Jones."
There was stunned silence before,
"Jones?" Theodore asked in disgust. "Jones? No, that can't be right. Professor Snape would never!"
"I doubt it was his idea, it was probably Dumbledore sticking his nose in, as usual," Draco corrected.
Alaw raised her eyebrows at this quick deduction. It seemed it was obvious to everyone why she's really been chosen.
"Well that's just perfect," Theodore spat. "Two mudbloods chosen as Prefects. The master's plan had better start soon or I might go crazy!"
"Careful," Draco hissed. "We aren't at my house anymore, we have to be discreet about - that."
"Oh please, there's no one here but us. And anyway, it's only a matter of time before the Dark Lord moves into the open and when he does, those mudbloods will wish they were never born."
"I want Granger," Goyle sniggered. "I bet she'll squeal like a pig!"
"You can have Granger, and that poof Thomas. But Jones is mine, I've been waiting to pay her back ever since first year."
Just try it, Alaw thought, I will grid you into the dirt.
"We're not supposed to do anything yet," said Draco sharply. "We can't draw attention to ourselves."
"Calm down Draco, you really need to stop being such a wimp if you want the Dark Lord to take you seriously," said Goyle.
There was a pause during which Alaw heard rustling in the background, someone was opening a sweet wrapper. Then Theodore said snidely,
"If I didn't know any better Draco, I'd say you were sweet on Jones. I mean you did spend a lot of time together last year."
"Don't be disgusting, I just ate lunch," Draco snapped coldly. "I had to spend time with her because of that stupid project. Believe me, it was tedious as hell."
"Well if you want to fuck her, I'm sure the Dark Lord won't mind. Just make sure you have a good long shower afterwards, I know I will when I'm finished with her," Theodore sniggered.
Alaw shuddered and clutched her wand tightly.
"I would never touch a mudblood, you're being vile," Draco complained. "Who knows what they're carrying."
"Oh yeah, I forgot you were squeamish about Muggle girls. But you know that one the summer before Hogwarts wasn't so bad, kicked like a Hippogriff though."
Alaw had heard enough. Feeling sick, she rolled up the Extendable Ear and stuffed it into her pocket angrily. Draco had hinted at an incident involving Theodore and a muggle girl before they'd all started Hogwarts, but to hear them actually boast about it… Alaw shuddered, she would have to come up with a suitably nasty comeuppance for Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle. As for Draco, well, she supposed he had to say all sorts of things he didn't mean these days. At least, she hoped he didn't mean them.
She found Ron, Hermione and Neville at the other end of the train. The boys were playing exploding snap and Neville cursed as Alaw opened the door and a card singed his fingers.
"Find anything useful?" Hermione asked from behind her book. Alaw folded the cloak back into her backpack.
"Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle have definitely been recruited by Voldemort," she reported. "I don't know if they're full Death Eaters yet, but it sounded like they're well on their way."
They all nodded gravely. It wasn't groundbreaking news, it only confirmed what they'd suspected for weeks. Ron placed another card on the deck.
"And Malfoy? What about him?"
"Him too," said Alaw stonily. "But he didn't sound very enthusiastic about it."
"He never sounds enthusiastic about anything, miserable git."
Alaw humphed and sat down by the door.
"Clearly you've never argued with him over who should sit on the Iron Throne. Anyway, it sounded like Voldemort's told the newbies to lie low for a while and not cause any mayhem. But they'll probably start harassing Muggle-borns on the sneak, so we need to warn as many people as possible."
"I tracked down Earnie, Hannah and Susan like you asked," Neville put in. "They sounded interested in what you had to say. And Dean dropped by looking for you."
Alaw nodded thoughtfully and took a file out of her bag, the one labeled, 'Death Eaters'. She turned the page dedicated to Theodore and started noting down the particulars of the conversation. It wasn't much, but it was a start, and Alaw was determined to out him and his friends before the term was over.
As Alaw was replacing the file in her backpack, her fingers brushed something wrapped in paper, and she took the object out, frowning. It was the package Sirius had given her, which she had forgotten about until now. Curious, Alaw undid the strings and removed the paper, revealing a small, hand-held mirror.
"O-key," she said slowly, frowning at her own reflection. Hermione looked up from her book.
"What's that?"
"I dunno, Sirius gave it to me. Oh hang on, there's a note on the back." Alaw removed the note and read it aloud. "This is a two-way mirror, I've got the other one of the pair. If you need to speak to me, just say my name into it: you'll appear in my mirror and I'll be able to speak to you. My friends and I used to use them when we were in separate detentions."
"What, they couldn't go a couple of hours without speaking to each other?" Ron asked scathingly and Alaw snorted, looking at the mirror with renewed interest. Now that she looked closely, she saw that there were tiny glowing runes carved around the edge. Hermione came to sit beside her and took the mirror so she could examine it.
"That is extraordinary magic," she said appreciatively. "And so useful! We won't have to worry about writing our letters in code anymore."
Alaw was relieved they now had a direct link to someone they could trust in the Order. She still thought she could persuade Sirius to tell them more about this mysterious Prophesy they were guarding, and why Voldemort was so obsessed with getting his hands on it. She wrapped the mirror back up carefully and replaced it in her bag. Yes, a very useful took inded, if this year was going to be a difficult as she thought it would.
The sky was dark and there was a cool breeze blowing by the time they reached Hogwarts. Not in the mood to be stared at or have unpleasant things shouted at her by Theodore and his friends, Alaw donned the invisibility cloak again so she could walk freely along the platform. She kept the cloak on the entire carriage ride to the castle and as they crossed the Entrance Hall.
When Alaw entered the Great Hall, her eyes immediately swept the length of the Slytherin table, to see the new battle-lines being drawn. Draco of course sat with Theodore, Crabbe and Goyle, and Blaise was with them this time.
Flora had joined her sister and Pansy whilst Daphne and Tracy sat well away from them. Alaw felt for them, there was no escape within Slytherin house for those who'd rather not declare themselves for Voldemort. As usual, she bypassed her own table and crossed the hall to sit with the Gryffindors.
Lavender, Parvati, Seamus and Dean were already seated and were speaking in low voices until Hermione and the boys sat down. Alaw seated herself next to Hermione and hoped no one would try and take the apparently empty spot.
"Hey," said Lavender in a strangely airy voice. "Where's Alaw?"
"She's sitting with her Slytherin friends, just for tonight," said Hermione as Alaw had instructed her too. For some reason Lavender and Parvati exchanged a glance.
"Did you guys have a good summer?" Neville asked, either not noticing or choosing to ignore the odd atmosphere.
"Yeah it was ok, I mostly helped my mum in the shop though," said Dean, shrugging.
"We went to France," said Hermione, indicating herself and the boys. "It was great! We went to the Chat Noire in Paris, and we saw the catacombs."
Lavender, Parvati and Seamus all exchanged looks. Then Lavender asked, casually,
"Anything else happen down there?"
Alaw squinted at her. Then she remembered that Lavender's father worked at the Ministry, and must have heard all about her trial. She hoped the others wouldn't mention the Dementors because that would sound like attention seeking.
"We did run into some trouble when we went south," Hermione said carefully.
"Oh yeah, what kind of trouble?" asked Parvati, and there was a definite note of sneering disbelief in her voice.
Thankfully, the doors of the Great Hall opened at that moment and Hermione was spared having to answer. Professor McGonagall lead a group of first years into the hall and down the gap between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw table. The new comers all looked excited and terrified as they approached the top table where the teachers sat. There, the Sorting Hat waited for them on a three legged stool. When they had all lined up before it, the rip near the brim opened and the hat shouted,
"Time for a new batch then?"
It was after a few names had been called that Hermione nudged Alaw in the side and leant in to whisper,
"Where's Hagrid?"
Alaw, who had been concentrating on the sorting, looked to the far end of the top table where Hagrid usually sat. But Hermione was right, he wasn't there. Alaw felt an unpleasant chill.
"He was supposed to be watching Emrys over the summer," she muttered anxiously. "Do you think he's ill?"
Hagrid was never ill, never, as long as she'd known him. And he had promised her to look after Emrys whilst Alaw was away. Hermione looked around to make sure no one was listening before leaning in again and saying quietly,
"Maybe he's not back from his mission, the thing Dumbledore wanted him to do over the summer?"
That sounded right, but Alaw was still anxious. Of course, Emrys was perfectly capable of hunting for himself and he had a decent territory in the Forbidden Forest, but she still worried for him. Her eyes turned to the top table again and she glared at Dumbledore for good measure. But in doing so, she noticed the person sitting on his left, where McGonagall usually sat.
She was a small witch with curly brown hair in which she had placed a pink Alice band. Alaw frowned and searched her memory. She had definitely seen her before, but it took a moment to remember where.
"That woman, she works for Fudge!" she muttered to Hermione and the boys who all looked up in surprise.
"Fudge? What is she doing here?" Neville asked anxiously.
"I don't know, but she was at my trial."
Hermione's eyes were sweeping the head table and after a moment she made a small sound of consternation.
"Oh no, no it can't be! Where's Professor Lupin?!"
They all turned as one but Hermione was right, Lupin was no where to be seen.
"It's not a full moon tonight is it?" Ron asked in an undertone so that nobody else around them would hear. Neville shook his head.
"No, that's next week. Do you think he's doing something for the Order too?"
Two members of staff missing was very suspicious and Alaw turned back to glare at Dumbledore, who was watching the Sorting. This whole affair felt wrong to Alaw and she felt an unpleasant knot of worry settle in her stomach.
At long last, the Sorting came to an end and Professor Flitwick carried the three-legged stool and the hat out of the Hall. Dumbledore rose to greet the students, his hands wide and his eyes twinkling.
"To our newcomers," he said in a ringing voice. "Welcome! To our old hands, welcome back. I'd like to say a few words before we have our excellent feast. First years ought to know that the forest in the grounds is out of bounds, as should a few of our older students."
Being invisible, Dumbledore obviously couldn't see where Alaw was sitting, but she fancied his gaze settled on the group at the far end of the Gryffindor table none the less.
"Mr Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to remind you all that magic is not permitted in the corridors between classes. For a full list of the school rules, please feel free to consult the list tacked to Mr Flich's office door. We are very pleased to welcome Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons. We are also delighted to welcome Professor Umbridge, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher."
There was an outbreak of muttering at this last announcement. Professor Lupin was well liked among the students and many of them were looking disappointed or even mutinous. Dumbledore continued,
"Try-outs for the house Quidditch teams will take place during Initiation Week and details will be posted…"
He broke off, looking enquiringly at Professor Umbridge. She had just stood up and cleared her throat in a fussy, unnecessary kind of way. She was obviously about to make a speech of her own. Dumbledore only looked surprise for a moment, then he sat down and looked intently at Umbridge as if he wished for nothing more than to hear her speak. Hermione make a 'tchugh!' noise beside Alaw and it looked like Professor McGonagall had made a similar sound. She and Professor Sprout exchanged dark looks and when Alaw glanced at Snape, she saw him and Professor Flitwick, who had regained his seat, also share a minuscule glance of disdain.
"Thank you Professor Dumbledore, for those kind words of welcome," said Professor Umbridge in a simpering voice that, like before, made Alaw cringe. "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts I must say. And to meet such eager young people, I'm sure we'll be very good friends."
Many of the students had trouble containing their snorts at this statement.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the wizarding community must be passed down the generations lest we lose them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished and polished by those who have been called to the noble art of teaching.
Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts had brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is how it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance then, between old and new, between permanence, and change, between tradition and innovation."
"Sounds like someone's swallowed a bullshit potion," Alaw muttered in Hermione ear and she nodded gravely, her eyes fixed on Umbridge.
Most people had stopped listening apart from a few of the more savvy students and the teachers. A quick glance across the hall at the Slytherins showed that a fair few of them were muttering to each other as well. Umbridge was still ploughing on despite the whispers that now filled the room.
"Because some changes will be for the better, whilst others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognised as errors of judgement."
Yeah, like the decision to let you start talking, Alaw thought.
"Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."
She sat down, and Alaw rolled her eyes at Neville who sat opposite her, until she remembered that he couldn't see her. The food was finally served and everyone tucked in.
"What a load of bollocks!" Ron said, dipping a spoon into a dish of shepherds pie.
"It was meant to sound like nonsense," said Hermione darkly. "It's to stop people understanding what's really going on. The Ministry has stuck her here to interfere with the school! Pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited, how sinister is that?! But why has Professor Lupin left?"
"Oh you haven't heard?" said Lavender gleefully and they all looked at her. "It's awful!"
"What's happened?!" Neville asked in alarm and everyone in the vicinity looked at Lavender.
"My dad told me about it. Apparently, Professor Lupin is a werewolf!"
There were gasps from some people but Hermione just frowned.
"So?"
"What do you mean 'so'? A werewolf! Can you imagine, he could have turned on any of us in a second!" Lavender said with a shudder and Alaw saw Hermione's face cloud with anger.
"That is the most ridiculous, small-minded thing you have ever said, Lavender," she said coldly and Lavender looked taken-aback. "Professor Lupin was kind and a brilliant teacher! And for your information, we," she indicated herself and the boys, "- have known he was a werewolf for ages.
"Of course you did, because you're just so clever aren't you?" said Parvati scathingly. "But you didn't see that your friend was completely out of her mind did you?"
There was a silence following these words and Alaw put down the forkful of pie she'd been about to eat.
"Please tell me you're not talking about Alaw," said Hermione, a real bite in her voice now. Parvati gave her a contemptuous look.
"Oh come on, she's obviously loopy! She's saying You-Know-Who is back from the dead! Why would she say that if she wasn't crazy?"
"Oh I don't know, maybe because it's the truth?" said Ron angrily. Seamus snorted.
"What, you actually believe all the rubbish she's come out with? How she fought You-Know-Who?"
"Yeah we do!" Neville jumped in before Ron could thump Seamus. "I'm sorry, am I missing something here, or have you all forgotten that Alaw was the one who fought the Dementor back in the first year and saved all those people? You didn't think she was loopy then did you?"
Lavender, Seamus and Parvati all shifted uncomfortably and Dean was acting as if he couldn't hear the conversation happening right next to him. Then Lavender perked up.
"Maybe all the attention she got back then went to her head, and now she's making all this new stuff up."
"Oh for goodness sake, you people are unbelievable!" Hermione cried furiously. "Small-minded and fickle! That's what you are! You know Alaw, you've known her for two years, and yet if the precious Daily Prophet says she's crazy then it must be true, is that it?"
Their raised voices was attracting some attention from the people around them, and even some students over on the Hufflepuff table were turning around in surprise to watch. Alaw had had enough. She grabbed some bread rolls and stuffed them into her bag before getting up from the table.
"I'm going to see Emrys, please don't let this get out of hand," she whispered in Hermione's ear, squeezing her arm.
Hermione nodded and Alaw swept from the Hall as fast as she could. Her heart was hammering and she strode across the Entrance Hall and out into the grounds in a sort of daze. She knew the papers had been slagging her off all summer, she knew that, and she had seen the looks of sneering disbelief on the faces of the Wizengamot. But she had never imagined for one second that the people who actually knew her would believe the lies. She thought they would trust their own experiences over any words printed in a newspaper. Apparently that had been naive.
The grounds were pitch black and Alaw had to watch her step as she walked over the lawn towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid's hut. There was no light shining behind the curtain but Alaw knocked for good measure, just in case. But there was no reply, only the sound of the wind rustling the treetops nearby. Where could Hagrid be? Whilst eavesdropping on the Order, the Flames had picked up some chatter about this mission Dumbledore had sent Hagrid on at the end of last term, something to do with Giants. But Alaw had expected him to be back by now.
Shaking her head, she carried on towards the edge of the trees and then skirted them until the came to the edge of the lake. She had made this trip many times the previous year and often at night, but the darkened trees always managed to send chills down Alaw's spine. Even though she was invisible, she felt as if something was watching her as she picked her way through the forest, keeping the shoreline on her right and making sure to never loose sight of it.
Last year, she and Hagrid had marked the path to Emrys' cave with huge stones and as she passed each one, Alaw reached out to touch them for reassurance. She'd meant to turn them into the ward stones, to protect Emrys' territory, but she hadn't quite got round to it and besides, she didn't really have the skill necessary. She needed to work harder in Ancient Runes if she was to master that kind of magic.
After twenty minutes of walking Alaw came to the last stone marker and the cave came into view. It had been little more than a large overhang a few feet from the water's edge when she and Hagrid had found it last February. Using magic, they had expanded it until it was deep enough for Emrys to get some real shelter from the elements and to hide, if necessary.
"Emrys?" Alaw called. "It's me! It's Alaw!"
All this she said in Parseltongue. It had been quite the shock to discover she could speak the mysterious language, and at first she'd only been able to do it around Emrys. But with practice, she'd taught herself to switch between it and her human tongues with ease, even managing to communicate with Voldemort in this manner. It had been quite a shock for him too.
There was no sign of movement from the cave and Alaw frowned, edging around cautiously to peer inside. She threw back the hood of her cloak and lifted her wand.
"Lumos," she murmured and light flooded the cave. It was empty. Panic clutched at Alaw's throat and she raised her head to look around.
"Emrys!" she called, her roar echoing around the trees.
She heard a rustling in the bushes nearby and the next second, something large and green came crashing out of the undergrowth and nearly bowled her over. She stepped back just in time and gave a sigh of relief.
"Emrys, why did you scare me like that?" she asked irritably, lowering her wand and throwing her arms around the dragon's neck.
When Hagrid had bought Emrys' smuggled egg from Mundungus Fletcher almost a year previously, they'd all been worried the little dragon wouldn't make it. Eggs removed from their mother's care rarely survived, but Emrys had been a resilient baby. But even thought he was now fully grown, he was quite a runty specimen, even for a Welsh Green. Hagrid had helped Alaw measure him at the end of last erm and they'd found him to be 26 feet from snout to tail, with a wingspan of 48 feet. He had not been a particularly strong flier the last time Alaw had seen him but his fire-breath had certainly caused enough havoc among the Death Eaters.
When Emrys had hatched, Alaw had been the first living thing he had seen and he had imprinted on her immediately. The magical bond they shared was only made stronger by the fact that Alaw could speak Parseltongue. According to Ron's brother Charlie, there hadn't been a dragon rider in centuries, but Alaw was reluctant to go anywhere near the skies after her disastrous flights last term. Still, she was very fond of the dragon and she squeezed tighter.
"I've missed you," she said. "It's been a really hard summer. Have you been ok?"
"No dangers, but Hagrid has been away for two moons now," Emrys complained. He curled himself into a ball at the entrance of the cave and Alaw sat down with her back against his scales.
"Did he say when he would be back?" Alaw asked anxiously.
"Before the snows came again," was Emrys' vague answer. The trouble was, dragons did not count time as precisely as humans did, they preferred to deal in seasonal changes than days and weeks. Emrys dipped his head and nuzzled against Alaw's hair.
"Why has your summer been hard? Have you been injured?" he asked plaintively and Alaw sighed, stroking his snout.
"Not injured exactly, but it's been tough," she said, raising her head to gaze up at the sky. Through the trees she could see stars glimmering between the patches of cloud. "And I don't think it's going to get any easier."